Rooftoppers

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

Everyone thinks that Sophie is an orphan. True, there were no other recorded female survivors from the shipwreck which left baby Sophie floating in the English Channel in a cello case, but Sophie remembers seeing her mother wave for help. Her guardian tells her it is almost impossible that her mother is still alive, but that means still possible. You should never ignore a possible. So when the Welfare Agency writes to her guardian threatening to send Sophie to an orphanage, she takes matters into her own hands and flees to Paris to look for her mother, starting with the only clue she has – the address of the cello maker. Evading the French authorities, she meets Matteo and his network of rooftoppers – urchins who live in the sky. Together they scour the city for Sophie’s mother before she is caught and sent back to London, and most importantly before she loses hope.

Main Focus: Vocabulary Extension - Chapter 1

Never have we read a story and based our vocabulary exercise on one chapter, let alone the first chapter. WOW!

We have created this resource from the fantastic vocabulary used by Katherine Rundell in the opening chapter of Rooftoppers.

Your KS2 class will look at the words and definitions and place them into the context of the story.

Main Focus: Commas

This activity focuses on chapter 1 and 2 of Rooftoppers and commas.

4 Rules for Using Commas

1. Use a comma before a conjunction that joins two main clauses.
2. Use a comma after an introductory word group.
3. Use a pair of commas to set off interruptions
4. Use a comma to separate items in a series.

Your class will identify where the commas should go in the sentences and which sentences are examples of the four rules.

We have differentiated this resource six ways to cater for Year 3 and Year 4.

Main Focus: Miss Eliot

This resource looks at Miss Eliot from the first few chapters of the Rooftoppers book.

Your Ks2 class will read all the extracts we have taken to decide what we can learn about Miss Eliot, her mindset and viewpoints.

A possible discussion point for your class could be, “Why do you think Miss Eliot is like this?”

Main Focus: Apostrophes

This activity focuses on apostrophes used from pages 50 to 103 of the book.

Your class will look an apostrophes used to show possession and the resource includes plural possession to explore too with your Year 3 / Year 4 class.

Your KS2 class must read the extracts taken from the book and add in the apostrophes where possible.

Main Focus: Comprehension - Chapter 11

This is a comprehension resource linked to chapter 11 of the Rooftoppers book by Katherine Rundell and is aimed at KS2 classes.

We have included three different resources for this activity, including a multiple choice page.

Main Focus: Adverbs - Chapter 15

This activity focuses on identifying adverbs or adding adverbs to complete the sentences.

We have taken extracts from chapter 15 of the book and created this adverbs activity.

We have also differentiated this task to cater for KS2 classes.

Main Focus: True, False or Unknown? - Chapter 20

Your class will read the sentences from pages 195-205 and decide whether they are true, false or whether the information is unknown.

This part of the story is when Sophie meets Anastasia and Safi for the first time and their interaction.

We have two different resources for this activity. The first covers pages 195-205 and the second only 195-198.

Main Focus: Inverted Commas - Chapter 27

This resource is aimed at Year 3 and Year 4 classes and focuses on inverted commas.

Your KS2 class will work on identifying speech in dialogue between Matteo, Anastasia and Sophie within chapter 27 of the Rooftoppers book.

Main Focus: Comprehension - Chapter 31

This activity is linked to the final chapter of the Rooftoppers book and comprehension.

We have created a range of questions that include  questions linked to inference, retrieval, vocabulary, summarising, synthesis and more.

We have also included a multiple choice activity sheet.

Main Focus: Non-Fiction and Quiz

This is a non-fiction resource linked to famous landmarks in Paris.

The resource explores: The Louvre and the Mona Lisa, The Eiffel Tower and Gustave Eiffel and The Arc de Triomphe and Napoleon Bonaparte.

There are multiple ways to use this resource, but we would split your class into groups, give them the sources for a limited amount of time for them to discuss between themselves and then complete the quiz after.

We have grouped the questions into categories but you’re best to mix them up.